Dennis Lee (author)
Encyclopedia
Dennis Beynon Lee, OC
, MA
(born August 31, 1939) is a Canadian poet
, teacher, editor, and critic born in Toronto
, Ontario
. He is also a children's writer, well known for his book of children's rhymes, Alligator Pie
.
, Lee received bachelor's and master's degrees in English from the University of Toronto
. He taught English at the University's Victoria College
from 1963 until 1967, at which time he became 'resource person' for Rochdale College
.
Also in 1967, Lee co-founded House of Anansi Press
with Dave Godfrey
, and served as its editorial director until 1972. From 1974 to 1979 he was a consulting editor for Macmillan of Canada
.
He was a writer in residence at Trent University
in 1975, and at the University of Toronto in 1978-1979.
variations." Lee followed that up the next year with a long meditative poem, Civil Elegies. (Civil Elegies and Other Poems, a revised version of that work collected with some newer poetry, won Lee the Governor General's Award in 1972
.)
Lee began writing for children as part of his goal of "Reclaiming language and liberating imagination;" he "tries to free Canadian children from a colonial mentality by creating poems rooted in the words and activities of their everyday lives, poems which encourage free imaginative play." His most famous work is the rhymed Alligator Pie (1974
). He also wrote the lyrics to the theme song of the 1980s television show Fraggle Rock
and, with Philip Balsam
composing, many of the other songs for that show. Balsam and Lee also wrote the songs for the television special The Tale of the Bunny Picnic. Lee is co-writer of the story for the film Labyrinth
.
"On the adult level," says The Canadian Encyclopedia, "roots and play (including lovemaking) are further explored in Part I of The Gods (1979). Part 2, The Death of Harold Ladoo (1976), is an elegy for Lee's friend, a writer murdered in 1973.... The poem also meditates on the roles of mystical epiphanies and of artistic creation in its attempts to come to term with the problems of the contemporary world."
Lee is the also the co-editor of The University Game (1968, with H. Edelman), "in which he calls for freedom from inhibiting educational institutions" a la Rochdale; and the author of Savage Fields: An Essay in Literature and Cosmology (1977), which "explores the interrelationship between 'earth' and 'world' -- ie nature and civilization, or instinct and consciousness -- all with particular application to a critical analysis of works by Michael Ondaatje
and Leonard Cohen
."
Governor General's Award
, Lee twice won the CACL Bronze Medal for a children's book: in 1974 for Alligator Pie, and in 1977 for Garbage Delight. He also won the Vicky Metcalf Award
, for body of work for children, in 1986, and the Mr. Christie's Book Award (for The Ice Cream Store) in 1991.
In 1993, Lee was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
. In 1995 he received an honorary doctorate from Trent University, and won a Toronto Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement.
In 2001
Lee became Toronto's first Poet Laureate
, serving in that position until 2004.
In 2009, Lee received an honorary doctorate from Victoria College
in the University of Toronto
.
Sat in the middle and played with string,
And he loved his mother like anything--
William Lyon Mackenzie King
.
Except where noted, bibliographic information courtesy Canadian Poetry Online.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
(born August 31, 1939) is a Canadian poet
Canadian poetry
- Beginnings:The earliest works of poetry, mainly written by visitors, described the new territories in optimistic terms, mainly targeted at a European audience...
, teacher, editor, and critic born in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. He is also a children's writer, well known for his book of children's rhymes, Alligator Pie
Alligator Pie
Alligator Pie, first published in 1974, is a popular book of children's poetry written by Dennis Lee and illustrated by Frank Newfeld. It won the Book of the Year award from the Canadian Library Association in 1975....
.
Life
After attending high school at the University of Toronto SchoolsUniversity of Toronto Schools
The University of Toronto Schools is an independent secondary day school affiliated with the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
, Lee received bachelor's and master's degrees in English from the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
. He taught English at the University's Victoria College
Victoria University, Toronto
Victoria University is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1836 and named for Queen Victoria. It is commonly called Victoria College, informally Vic, after the original academic component that now forms its undergraduate division...
from 1963 until 1967, at which time he became 'resource person' for Rochdale College
Rochdale College
Opened in 1968, Rochdale College was an experiment in student-run alternative education and co-operative living in Toronto, Canada. It provided space for 840 residents in a co-operative living space. It was also a free university where students and teachers would live together and share knowledge...
.
Also in 1967, Lee co-founded House of Anansi Press
House of Anansi Press
House of Anansi Press is a Canadian publishing company, founded in 1967 by writers Dennis Lee and Dave Godfrey. The company specializes in finding and developing new Canadian writers of literary fiction, poetry, and non-fiction....
with Dave Godfrey
Dave Godfrey
Dave Godfrey is a Canadian writer and publisher. His novel The New Ancestors won the Governor General's Award for English language fiction in 1970....
, and served as its editorial director until 1972. From 1974 to 1979 he was a consulting editor for Macmillan of Canada
Macmillan of Canada
Macmillan of Canada was a Canadian publishing house.The company was founded in 1905 as the Canadian arm of the English publisher Macmillan. At that time it was known as the "Macmillan Company of Canada Ltd." In the course of its existence the name changed to "Macmillan of Canada" and "Macmillan...
.
He was a writer in residence at Trent University
Trent University
Trent University is a liberal arts and science-oriented institution located along the Otonabee River in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.The enabling legislation is the Trent University Act, 1962-63. The University was founded through the efforts of a citizens' committee interested in creating a...
in 1975, and at the University of Toronto in 1978-1979.
Writing
In 1967 House of Anansi published Lee's first book of poetry, Kingdom of Absence, "a sequence of 43 sonnetSonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
variations." Lee followed that up the next year with a long meditative poem, Civil Elegies. (Civil Elegies and Other Poems, a revised version of that work collected with some newer poetry, won Lee the Governor General's Award in 1972
1972 Governor General's Awards
Each winner of the 1972 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Robertson Davies, The Manticore...
.)
Lee began writing for children as part of his goal of "Reclaiming language and liberating imagination;" he "tries to free Canadian children from a colonial mentality by creating poems rooted in the words and activities of their everyday lives, poems which encourage free imaginative play." His most famous work is the rhymed Alligator Pie (1974
1974 in literature
The year 1974 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics is founded by Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman.-New books:*Richard Adams - Shardik*Kingsley Amis - Ending Up...
). He also wrote the lyrics to the theme song of the 1980s television show Fraggle Rock
Fraggle Rock
Fraggle Rock is a children's live action puppet television program series created by Jim Henson. The central characters were a set of "Muppet" creatures called Fraggles. The show ran from January 10, 1983, to March 30, 1987, on CBC Television in Canada, ITV in the UK, HBO in the United States,...
and, with Philip Balsam
Philip Balsam
Philip Balsam is a Canadian songwriter and author.With fellow Canadian Dennis Lee, he wrote most of the songs for the television series Fraggle Rock....
composing, many of the other songs for that show. Balsam and Lee also wrote the songs for the television special The Tale of the Bunny Picnic. Lee is co-writer of the story for the film Labyrinth
Labyrinth (film)
Labyrinth is a 1986 British/American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson, produced by George Lucas, and designed by Brian Froud. Henson collaborated on the screenwriting with children's author Dennis Lee, Terry Jones from Monty Python, and Elaine May .The film stars David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin...
.
"On the adult level," says The Canadian Encyclopedia, "roots and play (including lovemaking) are further explored in Part I of The Gods (1979). Part 2, The Death of Harold Ladoo (1976), is an elegy for Lee's friend, a writer murdered in 1973.... The poem also meditates on the roles of mystical epiphanies and of artistic creation in its attempts to come to term with the problems of the contemporary world."
Lee is the also the co-editor of The University Game (1968, with H. Edelman), "in which he calls for freedom from inhibiting educational institutions" a la Rochdale; and the author of Savage Fields: An Essay in Literature and Cosmology (1977), which "explores the interrelationship between 'earth' and 'world' -- ie nature and civilization, or instinct and consciousness -- all with particular application to a critical analysis of works by Michael Ondaatje
Michael Ondaatje
Philip Michael Ondaatje , OC, is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian novelist and poet of Burgher origin. He is perhaps best known for his Booker Prize-winning novel, The English Patient, which was adapted into an Academy-Award-winning film.-Life and work:...
and Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
."
Recognition
In addition to his 19721972 Governor General's Awards
Each winner of the 1972 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Robertson Davies, The Manticore...
Governor General's Award
Governor General's Award
The Governor General's Awards are a collection of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, marking distinction in a number of academic, artistic and social fields. The first was conceived in 1937 by Lord Tweedsmuir, a prolific author of fiction and non-fiction who created the Governor...
, Lee twice won the CACL Bronze Medal for a children's book: in 1974 for Alligator Pie, and in 1977 for Garbage Delight. He also won the Vicky Metcalf Award
Vicky Metcalf Award
The Vicky Metcalf Award is awarded to a writer whose body of work has been "inspirational to Canadian youth." It is one of the top awards for Canadian children's writers. The award was named after Vicky Metcalf...
, for body of work for children, in 1986, and the Mr. Christie's Book Award (for The Ice Cream Store) in 1991.
In 1993, Lee was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
. In 1995 he received an honorary doctorate from Trent University, and won a Toronto Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement.
In 2001
2001 in literature
The year 2001 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The film version of J. R. R. Tolkien's classic book, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, is released to movie theaters...
Lee became Toronto's first Poet Laureate
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
, serving in that position until 2004.
In 2009, Lee received an honorary doctorate from Victoria College
Victoria College
Victoria College is or was the name of several institutions of secondary or higher education, including:* [Victoria College, Chulipuram], Sri Lanka* Victoria College, Alexandria, Egypt* Victoria College in Victoria, Texas...
in the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
.
An example of Lee's verse for children
William Lyon Mackenzie KingSat in the middle and played with string,
And he loved his mother like anything--
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...
.
Adult poetry
- Kingdom of Absence. Toronto: Anansi, 19671967 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*Cecil Day-Lewis is selected as the new Poet Laureate of the UK....
. - Civil Elegies. Toronto: Anansi, 19681968 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Belfast Group, a grouping of poets in Belfast, Northern Ireland, which was started in 1963 in poetry, lapsed in 1966 when founder Philip Hobsbaum left for Glasgow, is reconstituted this year by...
. - Civil Elegies and Other Poems. Toronto: Anansi, 19721972 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* John Betjeman becomes Poet Laureate...
. - Not Abstract Harmonies But. Vancouver: Kanchenjunga Press, 19741974 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics is founded by Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman....
. (Chapbook) - The Death of Harold Ladoo. Vancouver: Kanchenjunga Press, 19761976 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Two poems written in 1965 by Mao Zedong just before the Cultural Revolution, including "Two Birds: A Dialogue", are published on January 1-Works published in English:Listed by nation where the work...
. (Chapbook) - The Gods. Vancouver: Kanchenjunga Press, 19781978 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Magazine, edited by Bruce Andrews and Charles Bernstein, first published...
. (Chapbook) - The Gods. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19791979 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Kenyon Review is restarted by Kenyon College 10 years after the original publication was closed....
. - The Difficulty of Living on Other Planets. Toronto: Macmillan, 19871987 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Charles Bukowski, fictionalised as alter ego Henry Chinaski, becomes the subject of the film Barfly starring Mickey Rourke....
. Illus. Alan Daniel. - Riffs. London, Ont.: Brick Books, 19931993 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 20 — Maya Angelou reads "On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton* T. S...
. - Nightwatch: New & Selected Poems 1968-1996. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19961996 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* National Poetry Month was established by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996 as way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States.* The movie Dead Man, written and...
. - Un. Toronto: Anansi, 20032003 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry was opened at Queens University, Belfast, this year. It houses the Heaney Media Archive, a unique record of Heaney's entire oeuvre, as well as a full catalogue of...
. - So cool. Dennis Lee ; illustrations by Maryann Kovalski. Toronto : Key Porter, 20042004 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* April 1 — Foetry.com Web site is launched for the announced purpose of "Exposing fraudulent contests. Tracking the sycophants...
. - The Bard of the Universe. Kentville, NS: Gaspereau Press, 20072007 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* March 5: a car bomb was exploded on Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad. More than 30 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded. This locale is the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, a winding...
. - YesNo. Toronto: Anansi, 20072007 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* March 5: a car bomb was exploded on Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad. More than 30 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded. This locale is the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, a winding...
.
Adult prose
- Savage Fields: An Essay in Literature and Cosmology. Toronto: Anansi, 1977.
- Reading Adonis. Toronto: Coach House Press, 1987. (Chapbook)
- Body Music. Toronto: Anansi, 1998.
Children's poetry
- Wiggle to the Laundromat. Toronto: New Press, 1970. Ill. Charles Pachter.
- Nicholas Knock and Other People. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1974. Ill. Frank Newfeld.
- Alligator PieAlligator PieAlligator Pie, first published in 1974, is a popular book of children's poetry written by Dennis Lee and illustrated by Frank Newfeld. It won the Book of the Year award from the Canadian Library Association in 1975....
. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1974. Ill. Frank Newfeld. - Garbage Delight. Toronto: Macmillan, 1977. Ill. Frank Newfeld
- The Ordinary Bath. Toronto: Magook, 1979. Ill. Jon McKee.
- Jelly Belly. Toronto: Macmillan, 1983. Ill. Juan Wijngaard.
- Lizzy's Lion. Toronto: Stoddart, 1984. Ill. Marie-Louise Gay.
- The Dennis Lee Big Book. Toronto: Gage, 1985. Ill. Barbara Klunder.
- The Ice Cream Store. Toronto: HarperCollins, 1991. Ill. David NcPhail.
- Dinosaur Dinner (with a Slice of Alligator Pie). New York: Random House, 1997. Selected by Jack Prelutsky. Ill. Debbie Tilley.
- Bubblegum Delicious - 2000
- The cat and the wizard. Dennis Lee ; illustrations by Gillian Johnson. Toronto : Key Porter Books, 2001.
Edited
- An Anthology of Verse. Edited by Lee and Roberta Charlesworth. Toronto: Oxford, 1964.
- The University Game. Essays Edited by Howard Adelman & Dennis Lee. Toronto: Anansi, 1968.
- T.O. Now; the Young Toronto Poets. Toronto: Anansi, 1968.
- The New Canadian Poets, 1970-1985. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1985.
Except where noted, bibliographic information courtesy Canadian Poetry Online.
Discography
- Dennis Lee [selections].[Sound recording]. Toronto: High Barnet, 1970.
- Alligator Pie and Other Poems. [sound recording]. New York: Caedmon, 1978.
External links
- Canadian Poetry Online: Dennis Lee - Biography and 9 poems (400: Coming Home, Coming Becomes You, Deeper, Juniper and Bone, A Plan for Preserving Birdsong, A Cautionary Verse, Alligator Pie, The Secret Place, Blue Psalm)
- Toronto's First Poet Laureate: Dennis Lee
- Dennis Lee's entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia
- Dennis Lee Papers, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library